Lifting strap

ABSTRACT

An adjustable lifting strap is provided that fits or fastens securely around the circumference of a large container for ease of lifting, carrying, maneuvering and pouring the container. The lifting strap has a strap that fits around the container and is adjustable in length by a fastener which is attached to the two ends of the lifting strap. The fastener has a locking and release mechanism so the lifting strap does not have to be permanently attached to the container and can be removed. A handle is attached to the strap and can include different types of grips.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates generally to lifting straps or harnesses, and more particularly, to a lifting strap or harness which fastens and locks around a large container for lifting, carrying, maneuvering and pouring the large container.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Some gasoline containers or bottles are large and are generally used for hauling, storing and providing an efficient way to refuel motorcycles or other types of all-terrain vehicles in remote locations. Some gasoline containers and other large liquid containers, such as large water bottles for example, can hold up to 5 gallons of liquid. When these large containers are full, they are heavy and quite difficult to lift. Some containers do not have a handle or any way to grip the container other than by having a person hold the edges of the container or in some cases, wrap their arms around the container. Some containers have a handle for lifting and carrying them. However, some handles were designed for solely lifting and carrying a large container and may prove useless when trying to maneuver and hold the container or bottle into a pouring position.

The contents in a container, for example gasoline, when being filled or dispensed may possibly run over the mouth of the container and stick to the outer surface of the container. Direct contact with the gasoline on the outside of the container with a person's clothes is highly undesirable. Moreover, these gasoline containers can become filthy from normal storage in a garage or in the back of flat-bed truck for example. This means that if a person had to wrap his or her arms around the container to lift and pour it, the excess liquid (e.g., gasoline), dust and accumulated dirt on the container would most likely make contact with the clothes of the person. This is problematic in that the person may smell like gasoline and be forced to change their clothes every time the large container is poured.

Lifting a heavy container that has no handles and nothing to grip but the container itself, is especially awkward. It is especially hard to maneuver a heavy container into a pouring position. Once in the pouring position, it is difficult and clumsy without a good grip on a heavy container to continually hold it in the pouring position while the liquid is being dispensed. Therefore, there is a need for a lifting strap that can securely fasten and lock onto a large container. There is also a need for a lifting strap that has a handle that can be easily used for maneuvering and holding the container into the pouring position without the container making contact with the clothes of a person pouring the container. There is also a need for a lifting strap that can be easily attached to a large container and detached after the container has been poured. There is also a need for a lifting strap that is adjustable and can fit around different sizes of large containers or bottles.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to the invention, a lifting strap is provided that can be fastened around a variety of sizes of large containers or large bottles (e.g., water cooler bottles), tightened and locked in place. This provides a convenient way for lifting, carrying, maneuvering and pouring the large container. Therefore, it is an object of the invention to provide a lifting strap that can fastened around a large container. It is also an object of the present invention to provide a lifting strap for ease of transporting, maneuvering and holding a large container in a pouring position. It is further an object of the invention to provide a lifting strap that is easily installed and securely fastened around a large container. Moreover, it is an object of the invention to have a lifting strap that can be unlocked and removed from the large container once the liquid has been poured from the container.

Other and further aspects and features of the invention will be evident from reading the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments, which are intended to illustrate and, not limit the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The drawings illustrate the design and utility of the preferred embodiments of the present invention, in which similar elements are referred to by common reference numerals. In order to better appreciate how the above-recited and other advantages and objects of the present inventions are obtained, a more particular description of the present inventions briefly described above will be rendered by reference to specific embodiments thereof, which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Understanding that these drawings depict only typical embodiments of the invention and are not therefore to be considered limiting of its scope, the invention will be described and explained with additional specificity and detail through the use of the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a lifting strap secured around a container according to one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a view of a lifting strap according to the present invention; and

FIG. 3 is a view of a lifting strap according to another embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of a lifting strap 10 that can be strapped around a container 50 having a dispenser 52 according to this invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the lifting strap 10 fits around the outside circumference of the container (or bottle) 50 and around the dispenser 52 so that the container 50 can be easily lifted, carried, maneuvered and poured. The container 50 illustrated in FIG. 1 is a gasoline container 50 and holds up to 5 gallons of gas. Although a gasoline container is shown in FIG. 1, the lifting strap 10 can be strapped to any type and size of a large container that has a dispenser for pouring liquids or other types of substances, such as powders for example.

FIG. 2 shows a view of the lifting strap 10 according to the present invention. Lifting strap 10 comprises a material 12, a fastener 14 and a handle 16. The material 12 is preferred to be construed of abrasion-, moisture- and tear resistant ballistic nylon webbing or polyester. This type of nylon or polyester has exceptional durability and strength, which is especially important when lifting a large, heavy container or bottle. It is also envisioned that canvas or any other type of cord, cable, string, rope, and twine can be used which is able to provide strength and durability for lifting a large container. The material 12 is preferred to be flat so that when the container 50 is sitting in an upright position on a surface (such as on the cement in a garage or in the bed of a flat-bed truck for example), the container 50 will sit nearly level, be stable during transport, and not have a tendency to tip to either side.

The width of the material 12 is preferred to be one inch, but can be of any width size. The length of the material 12 must have at least a minimum length to fit around the circumference of container 50. There needs to be extra material 12 so that the material 12 can be adjusted and pulled tight through or via the fastener 14.

The fastener 14 can be either one of many different types of buckles or clip/ring configurations. In one configuration, the fastener 14 is a simple ladderlock buckle. A ladderlock buckle is commercially available and is attached to one end of the material 12. The other end of the material, which does not contain a buckle, is threaded into the ladderlock buckle and pulled tight through the buckle to secure and fasten the material 12 around the container 50. The ladderlock buckle locks the material 12 in place around the container 50. In other configurations, side release buckles, cambuckles and ratchet tie down buckles can be used as well. These buckles require that both ends of the material 12 are attached to different pieces of the buckle and are joined together in some type of locking mechanism. They are released through a releasing part such as tab or ratchet. Once the buckle is locked, the material 12 is usually pulled tight by hand or via the ratchet to take the slack out of the material 12, so the material 12 fits firmly and securely around the outside circumference of the container 50.

The ladderlock buckles, the side release buckles and the cambuckles (with or without a ratchet) are commercially available. In a side release buckle, one end of the material 20 is attached to a buckle locking mechanism, while the other end of the material 20 is attached to a releasing mechanism. The releasing mechanism is comprised of two tabs on each side of the buckle, which when pushed, releases and unlocks the release mechanism from the locking mechanism. The ends of the material 20 can be attached to the locking or release mechanism via a dual ladderlock strap connector, or alternatively, a loop may be sewn into the material 20, where the sewn loop holds the locking or releasing mechanism. In a cambuckle or snaplock buckle, one end of the material 20 is attached to the cambuckle, while the other end is fed through the buckle and locked into placed by pushing on the locking tab. A simple release of the locking tab releases the material which permits a person to remove the lifting strap from the container 50.

In a clip and ring configuration, one end of the material 12 is attached to a clip, while the other end of the material 12 is attached to a ring. The clip can be any of those commercially available, including but not limited to clips and carabiners. Such clips and carabiners can be locking, screwgate, straight gate, or bent gate for example. The ring can be a circle ring or a D-ring; however, any other type of other commercially available ring can be used as well. Basically, the clip is slid over the ring to lock the clip over the ring.

The handle 16 can be made of the same material, substance or fabric as material 12, such as nylon webbing for example, that was described previously. The handle 16 may also include firmer or harder handles such as plastic or hard rubber handles. If a nylon handle were used, the handle 16 may also include a grip made of foam, plastic, rubber or some other softer material that surrounds the nylon portion of the handle 16. All of these handles and grips would help a person get a better and firmer grip on the larger container. Such a configuration would also be more comfortable when lifting the heavy container than by just gripping the nylon itself. It is also envisioned that the foam, plastic or rubber grip could slide along the nylon of the handle 16. Due to the size of those grips, it may cause the large container to lean to one side when the container is sitting in an upright position. This is because the handle 16 of the lifting strap 10 is usually located on the bottom of the container. By having the foam, plastic or rubber portion of the handle 14 move to a different position instead of remaining on the bottom of the container, the container can then be set in a stable, upright position.

The handle 16 can be sewn into two places of the material 12 for permanence. However, in other configurations, the handle 16 can be attached to material 12 via a combination of buckles and clip/ring configurations previously described. Moreover, it is envisioned that one end of the handle could be sewn to material 12, while the other end of the end is threaded through a buckle or clip/ring, for example. The length and firmness of the handle can be individually adjusted to a person's personal preference via the use of different buckles and clips/rings.

As shown in FIG. 2, the material 12 splits into two different pieces of material 12, and rejoins into one piece of material 12 after a predetermined length. This area forms a harness or loop which can be manufactured or fabricated into the material 12 or alternatively, sewn into the material 12. The two straps have an equal and preset length. The length of the straps is determined based on the diameter of the dispenser (or spout) of the container. The straps in the material 12 fit securely around the dispenser of the container (e.g., pouring spout) and in this configuration, is not adjustable. The harness or loop may fit firmly on one side as shown in FIG. 1. The harness does not have to fit securely around all sides of the dispenser in order to be effective for the present invention. Alternatively in an another embodiment, the harness or loop does not have to be split into two straps of equal length, but instead can be formed by sewing a single strap on the material 12. One piece of the strap is sewn into the material 12 at one point, and at the other end, sewn into the material 12 at a distance determined by the length of the strap.

FIG. 3 is a view of a lifting strap according to another embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 3, the lifting strap 10 comprises first material 11, second material 13, a fastener 14, a handle 16 and a harness 18. The first material 11 and second material 13 have the same or similar material, fabric, composition or construction as previously described for material 12 of FIG. 2. As shown in FIG. 3, one end of the first material 11 and one end of the second material 13 are attached to a different piece of the fastener 14. In this case shown in FIG. 3, the fastener 14 is a side release buckle. As previously described, the fastener 14 is adjustable so it can fasten the lifting strap 10 securely and firmly around the outside circumference of a large container. Moreover, the fastener 14 can be any type of buckle or clip/ring configuration as described above.

As shown in FIG. 3, one end of material 11 is sewn together to one end of harness 18, and similarly, one end of material 13 is sewn together with the other end of the harness 18. In this embodiment, the harness 18 is separate and distinct from the materials 11, 13, and is adjustable to fit around different sizes of dispensers. In this embodiment, the harness 18 comprises two straps 20, 22 and two adjustable buckles 24, 26 for adjusting the length of the straps onto the dispenser of a container. However, one skilled in the art can readily understand that other buckles and clip/ring combinations could be used for making the harness adjustable. In this embodiment, the harness straps 20, 22 could be unlocked and released, thereby releasing the lifting strap 10 from the container. This is important for large water bottles, the 3 liter size for example, where the harness 18 can be released from the dispenser or neck of the water bottle after the water bottle has been placed on the water cooler.

Further, it can be envisioned where one strap 20 of the harness 18 may be a fixed length, while the other strap 22 of harness 18 would be adjustable through the use of a buckle or clip/ring configuration. This would allow the harness 18 to be unlocked and released from the container.

In another alternative embodiment, the harness 18 would comprise a single strap. This single strap would be fed through two rings (e.g., circular or D-rings) that are attached to the ends of material 11 and 13. The ends of the harness strap would be joined together through use of a buckle or clip/ring combination as previously described for the fastener 14. In this case, a single buckle or clip/ring combination would be adjustable to fit around different sizes of a dispenser of the container. This configuration would also permit the harness 18 to be unlocked and released from the dispenser, thus permitting the lifting strap 10 from being released from a large container.

The handle 16 shown in FIG. 3 is similar to the construction, composition and extra features of the handle 16 described and shown as it pertained to FIG. 2. In FIG. 2, the ends of the handle 16 are sewn directly into material 12. However, in FIG. 3, the handle 16 is only sewn at one end of the material 11 and joined at the other end using a fastener 17, such as a buckle and clip/ring combination. By using a fastener 17, the handle 16 can be adjusted to the personal preference of an individual.

In an alternative embodiment, the lifting strap would have fasteners for attaching to a rack. The rack would be capable of holding one or more large containers or bottles. The rack may be mounted for example, in the back of a flatbed truck, on the back of a recreational vehicle, or in a garage. The means for attaching the lifting strap to the rack could comprise two D-rings attached to the lifting strap, so as to attach to the rack components once the bottle is in a sitting position. However, one skilled in the art could understand that other fasteners could work in addition to the D-rings.

Although particular embodiments of the present inventions have been shown and described, it will be understood that it is not intended to limit the present inventions to the preferred embodiments. It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present inventions. Thus, the present inventions are intended to cover alternatives, modifications and equivalents, which may be included within the spirit and scope of the present inventions as defined herein. 

1. A lifting strap for lifting a container having a dispenser, comprising: a first material having first and second ends; a second material having first and second ends; a fastener attached to the first ends of the first material and the second material; a harness attached to the second ends of the first material and the second material and being configured to fit around the dispenser of the container; and a handle attached to the second material.
 2. The lifting strap as claimed in claim 1, wherein the first and second materials are comprised of one of canvas or nylon.
 3. The lifting strap as claimed in claim 1, wherein the fastener is comprised of a buckle so the length of the first and second materials can be adjusted to fit securely around the container.
 4. The lifting strap as claimed in claim 1, wherein the fastener is comprised of: a ring attached to the first end of the first material; and a clip attached to the first end of the second material, and the clip being adjustable so the length of the first and second materials can be adjusted to fit securely around the container.
 5. The lifting strap as claimed in claim 1, wherein the harness is comprised of one of canvas and nylon.
 6. The lifting strap as claimed in claim 1, wherein the harness comprises third material and fourth material, and first ends of the third and fourth materials are attached to the second end of the first material, and second ends of the third and fourth materials are attached to the second end of the second material.
 7. The lifting strap as claimed in claim 1, wherein the harness comprises third material and fourth material, and further comprising: a ring attached to the second end of the first material; a clip attached to an end of the third material, the other end of the third material being attached to the second end of the second material; a clip attached to an end of the fourth material, the other end of the fourth material being attached to the second end of the second material; and the clips being adjustable so the third and fourth materials of the harness fit securely around the dispenser of the container.
 8. The lifting strap as claimed in claim 1, wherein the harness comprises third material and fourth material, and the first material has two second ends, and further comprising: a buckle attached to one of the second ends of the first material and to an end of the third material; a buckle attached to another of the second ends of the first material and to an end of fourth material; the other ends of the third and fourth materials being attached to the second end of the second material.
 9. The lifting strap as claimed in claim 13, wherein the buckles can be adjusted so the third and fourth materials are fit securely around the dispenser of the container.
 10. The lifting strap as claimed in claim 1, wherein the handle is comprised of one of canvas and nylon.
 11. The lifting strap as claimed in claim 1, wherein the handle is comprised of nylon and one of foam, rubber and plastic that fits around the nylon.
 12. The lifting strap as claimed in claim 1, wherein the handle has a foam grip.
 13. The lifting strap as claimed in claim 1, further comprising: a first ring attached to the second material; a second ring attached to the second material, the rings being separated from each other; the handle having two ends and further comprising a clip attached at one end of the handle; and another clip attached to another end of the handle, the clips being able to attach and detached from the first and second rings.
 14. The lifting strap as claimed in claim 1, further comprising: a ring attached to the second material; the handle having two ends and further comprising a clip attached at one end of the handle; and the other end of the handle directly attached to the second material, the clip being adjustable and able to attach and detached from the ring.
 15. The lifting strap as claimed in claim 1, further comprising: a first buckle attached to the second material and one end of the handle; a second buckle attached to the second material and the other end of the handle.
 16. A lifting strap for lifting a container having a dispenser, comprising: a first material having first and second ends; a second material having first and second ends; a fastener attached to the first end of the second material; a harness attached to the second ends of the first material and the second material, the harness being able to be secured around the dispenser of the container; and a handle attached to the second material.
 17. The lifting strap as claimed in claim 16, wherein the first end of the first material is threaded through the fastener so that the second material can be adjusted in length to securely fit around the container.
 18. The lifting strap as claimed in claim 16, wherein the handle can be detached from the second material using one of clips and buckles.
 19. An adjustable lifting strap for lifting a large container having a dispenser, comprising: a fixed length strap having two ends; an adjustable fastener attached to the two ends of the strap and for adjusting the length of the strap to securely fasten around an outside circumference of the container; an adjustable harness attached to the strap and configured for fitting around the dispenser of the container; and an adjustable handle attached to the strap. 